


The Man Who Speaks In Hands

by rcReader



Series: AngelTale Extras [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Backstory, Side Story, ketchup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:26:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27046441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rcReader/pseuds/rcReader
Summary: Just who IS Dr. W. D. Gaster, The Man Who Speaks In Hands?Join Sans and maybe you will find out.(Contains Minor Spoilers for 'ACT 1: Grim DETERMINATION')
Series: AngelTale Extras [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1974007
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	The Man Who Speaks In Hands

It’s a beautiful day outside…

Birds are singing…

Flowers are blooming…

On days like these…

Skeletons like Sans…

Were having one hell of a time getting this sensor lined-up.

Sans was a pretty lazy monster, but he still took his job seriously. His REAL job, at least.

Sans worked at the CORE facility as Dr. Gaster’s right-hand skeleton. It was a pretty sweet gig: the pay was nice, the hours were good, and the work was satisfying.

…Except when it wasn’t, like right now. Sans had been trying to re-align this one sensor for the better part of an hour. He wanted to call Alphys in and have her look at it… but…

Alphys was still kicking herself over her DT experiments. Sans knew she was taking it hard, really hard… He didn’t want to bother her. She was a dear friend to him after all.

So instead, he called Gaster to help him out.

Gaster was examining the sensor’s casing with a pair of his floating, skeletal hands. “…I cannot find any fault with the casing, the lens, or the wiring. Are you sure you double-checked the inhibitor’s circuits?”

Sans sighed through his nasal cavity, “nope, i just wanted to spend time with ya.”

“…No need for sarcasm, Sans. Regardless, we may need to replace the sensor and move on. Where is the spare?”

Sans nodded at the metallic object in Gaster’s hands, “that’s it, g. we don’t have another one…”

It was Gaster’s turn to sigh, “…Terrific. I know that Dr. Alphys is not… doing well, but we really do need this component in working order… I suppose that we could postpone the test… I will inform Dr. Alphys tomorrow morning. You may have the rest of the day-off, Sans.”

“…what about you, g?”

“I will remain here and ensure that the other labs are, at the very least, faring no worse than this one.”

Sans narrowed his eyesockets, “…that all?”

Gaster warped the sensor away with purple magic, “Yes, Sans, that will be all. Do not worry; I have no plans to sleep in my office tonight. My shoulder is stiff enough as is…”

Sans shrugged, “welp, i’m gonna hold you to that… see ya, g.”

Sans took a shortcut back to Snowdin. More precisely, Grillby’s.

After greeting some of the other regulars, Sans sat down and ordered a burger and ketchup, hold the burg. Grillby merely rolled his eyes and grabbed a bottle of ketchup from under the counter.

“thanks, grillby.”

“…You can thank me by paying your tab, Sans…” Grillby was a fire elemental of few words. What words he did have, were usually not the words Sans wanted to hear.

Truth was, Sans didn’t have a tab, Sans was the one who recommended the Royal Canine Unit try out Grillby’s. Turns out, dog monsters really like peace and quiet. Too much noise and movement tended to bother them when them were trying to relax. Since Grillby’s was quiet, the dogs took an immediate liking to the place. Next thing Grillby knew, half the royal guard was stopping by on the regular. Grillby told Sans he could have anything on-the-house.

Grillby and Sans went way back, too. So it was easy for the fire elemental to tell something was bothering his friend. “…Something happen?”

Sans Took a swig of ketchup, “you could say that… i’m, kinda worried ‘bout g. he really wants his new toy to work, but…”

Grillby picked up where Sans dropped-off, “…You’re afraid he’s pushing himself to hard again?”

Sans nodded slowly, “…yeah. i’m sure you remember the CORE incident?”

“…Of course I do… Half the Netherworld shook… You think something like that might happen again?”

Sans quickly shook his head, “no, it’s not that… it’s just… we almost lost him, grillby… g… gaster almost… died… g had been working for WEEKS on that damn space-time dilator. he hadn’t left the CORE in weeks… i practically had to drag him outta there, kicking and screaming, just to get him to take a break…”

Sans took another swing, trying to keep himself calm, “if he hadn’t left with me when he did… he would have still been in there when…” Sans shook his head, he REALLY didn’t want to think about what would have happened. “…i’m just, worried… worried that he’s gonna take things too far, push himself too far…”

“…Dr. Gaster is a tough one, Sans… You may not want to hear it, but he can take it… Just, make sure he knows how much he means to you… and your brother…”

“…will do.”

Sans took another long swig from his ketchup bottle. A companionable silence fell over the two monsters.

Grillby was the one who ultimately broke the silence, “…Sans. I want you to know something… about Dr. Gaster… He… lost people during the war… A lot of people… I know he still blames himself for it all… ‘If only I was stronger, If only I did things differently…’ Sans… I know you paid the dogs to tell you if they saw a human… I don’t pretend to know what’s going through your skull… But, if you plan on protecting the next kid that falls… Dr. Gaster isn’t gonna take too kindly to that idea…”

Sans’ expression was unreadable, “…what makes ya thing I was gonna **protect** them?”

Grillby shook his head and sighed, “…You’re not a killer, Sans… Unless the next human carves a dusty path through the Netherworld… or tries to hurt Papyrus… We both know you’re not gonna hurt ‘em… You’re not that kind of person… and neither is Dr. Gaster… Please, keep that in mind…”

Sans hesitated before answering, “…nah, i can’t do that… i don’t—”

“…Sans. This is serious… You are the ONE person Dr. Gaster will always listen too… If he tries to hurt the human…”

“…i hear ya, don’t worry. i can always talk sense into that _bone_ -head.”

After saying good-bye to Grillby, Sans took a shortcut home. He hopped on the couch and got comfortable.

Exactly 20 seconds later, Papyrus was walking in through the front door. Papyrus was a skeleton of habit, he always kept to his schedule. He was even more punctual than Sans.

“SANS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HOME SO EARLY?”

Sans waved lazily at his little brother, “sup, bro. g said I could take the rest of the day-off.”

“WOWIE! YOU AND DR. GASTER MUST HAVE MADE A LOT OF PROGRESS TODAY! I’M SO PROUD OF YOU SANS! NYEH HEH HEH!”

“…actually, we had to stop because some stuff broke. we gotta wait for repairs,”

“…OH. REGARDLESS! I AM SURE THAT YOU WERE WORKING VERY HARD! JUST LIKE ME, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! OH, AND DR. GASTER AS WELL!”

“yup, g’s really—”

“SANS. NO.”

“working himself—”

“SANS!”

“…down to the _bone_.”

“SIGH. WHY DO I EVEN BOTHER?”

“…because i’m your big _bother_?”

“…THAT WAS TERRIBLE! EVEN BY YOUR STANDARDS!”

Sans chuckled to himself, “anyway, i, uh… wanted to ask you something, paps… it’s about g…”

“DID SOMETHING HAPPEN? IS DR. GASTER ALL RIGHT?”

“he’s fine, but… if g found a human, alive… what do you think he would do?”

“HMM… I BELIEVE DR. GASTER WOULD DO AS KING ASGORE DECREED! AND BRING THE HUMAN TO THE CAPITAL! UNHARMED! AFTER ALL, DR. GASTER IS FIERCELY LOYAL TO THE KING! THEY ARE BEST FRIENDS YOU KNOW!”

Sans sighed, “i wanna believe that, but… g has killed humans before, during the war… you and i can both see that he is at LV 4.”

Papyrus hesitated, he did not like being reminded of Gaster’s LV, but Sans did have a point. “…SANS. I KNOW THERE IS NOTHING TO FEAR! EVEN IF DR. GASTER DID TRY TO HURT A HUMAN. I KNOW THAT HE WOULD REGRET IT… AND I KNOW, THAT YOU KNOW THIS! SO. OBVIOUSLY, YOU WOULD STOP HIM, AND REMIND HIM THAT THERE IS A BETTER WAY! THAT IS WHAT FAMILY IS FOR! HELPING EACH OTHER TO BE THE GREATEST PERSON WE CAN BE! PERHAPS EVEN GREATER! NYEH HEH HEH!”

Sans simply chuckled and shook his head, “welp, i can’t argue with that one. thanks, paps.”

“ANYTIME, BROTHER! NOW, YOU MUST EXCUSE ME! FOR I AM RUNNING LATE! I SHOULD HAVE STARTED MAKING DINNER THREE MINUTES AND TEN SECONDS AGO!”

Papyrus practically raced into the kitchen, leaving Sans alone with his thoughts.

…

The truth was, Sans didn’t like humans any more than Dr. Gaster did.

…But he DID make a promise, and Comic Sans Gaster always kept his promises.

**Author's Note:**

> There will be more side-stories, eventually…


End file.
